DIY: Beaded Scarf Necklace

Always on the hunt for cool accessories, my friend Adrienne and I saw these SAAKO scarf necklaces in a recent Daily Candy email. I liked them, but they had two problems: they were HUUUUUGE, and they ranged in price from $50-$100. That is NOT OK for some cut up jersey fabric. So I decided to use them as an inspiration for something new, and the result is really cool.

Note on the order of things in this DIY: This was my first time trying this, so there may be an easier way to tackle all the steps, but I’m going to tell you how I did it and then you can try it your way. Also, it's hard to take pictures when you're elbow-deep in blue dye, so that's why these pictures aren't as detailed as usual.

You’ll need:
A new white t-shirt, size XL
Rit dye in the color of your choice
Uncoated wooden beads
Bleach
Spray bottle
Cookie sheet
Paper towels
Needle and thread or sewing machine
Scissors
Large plastic bowl
Tongs
Large spoon

1. Cut your t-shirt into strips of varying thickness, beginning at the bottom and working your way up to the arm pits. Laugh because I just wrote “arm pits” in a blog post.

2. Take a few of the pieces and cut a little off so that they all won’t be the same length. Sew the end pieces back together.

3. Prepare your dye using the instructions in the box. I did this in a Dutch oven on the stove, and it worked pretty well. Be sure you have a large bowl close to your dye so you can put the fabric into this as it comes out of the dye. This stuff is HARD to get out of laminate countertops. You folks with granite won’t have to worry about this. *ALSO, put on some clothes that you don’t mind if they get splattered.

4. Submerge your fabric into the dye for about 5-7 seconds (or until you get a color you’re happy with). It’s OK if the strips are a little tangled – that gives them a cool tie-dyed effect. Lift the fabric out of the dye with the tongs, put it in the bowl and take to the sink. Repeat with the wooden beads.

5. Put several layers of paper towels on a cookie sheet so you can put the strips there when they’ve been rinsed out. This will help protect your countertops.

6. Rinse, rinse, rinse each strip individually and put them on the cookie sheet. Pat dry with another paper towel.

7. You’ll probably still have some dye in the fabric, but that’s OK. Add a little bleach to a spray bottle (tip – don’t leave bleach in the spray bottle after you’re done with it, because sometimes bleach can eat through cheap plastic and drip all over the clothes you’re air drying on top of your washing machine. I have experience with this, guys) and put a few strips back in the sink and spray a little bleach here and there, just to give it a cool effect. A little goes a long way.

8. Let the bleach sit for a few minutes, then rinse each strip again.

9. My fabric still had a little dye in it, and since I didn’t want that to rub off on anything light I wore under this, I decided to run it through the washing machine. I put the strips in a lingerie bag so they wouldn’t get completely tangled up. Then I dried them in the dryer in the lingerie bag.

10. Once everything is dry, it’s time to add the beads. Cut a few strips, tie a knot and add the bead.

11. Use one smaller piece of fabric to tie everything together in the back, and voila! A new fabulous accessory to make all your friends insanely jealous.